And would you turn with me to
Matthew, Chapter 9. Tonight, I'm going to bring a
message entitled, God's Laws Written on the Heart. Now, what is it that God writes
on the heart when He does write on the heart? I've entitled this message, Our
Doctrine and Our Practice. Now, this message that I'm going
to bring this morning will summarize the doctrine of the gospel and
the practice that that doctrine will produce. Doctrine and practice
cannot be separated. You see, we do not believe any
more than we actually put into practice. I've heard of doctrinal
messages and practical messages. You can't make that separation. Isn't that what James meant when
he said faith without works is dead, being alone? Matthew 9, verse 8, But when the multitudes saw it,
they marveled, and glorified God which had given such power
unto men. Now, what power is he speaking
of when he says God had given such power unto men? We'll look back up in verse 1. of Matthew chapter 9. Our text
actually is verses 9 through 13, but let's see what power
he's speaking of. And I think we'll understand
verse 9 better as we understand that. Verse 1, And he entered
into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And,
behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a
bed. And Jesus seeing their faith,
said unto the sick of palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins
be forgiven thee." Now, what if I said to you, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee? Would that mean they are? No. I do not have that power
or that authority to say something like that. But if he says, Son,
be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven me. You know what? Your
sins are forgiven. This gives us something, some
idea. of the power and authority of
Christ. You see, He's God. And if He
says, Thy sins be forgiven thee, your sins are forgiven. They're
blot out. That's a wonderful thought, isn't it? Let's go on
reading. Verse 3, And behold, certain of the scribes said within
themselves, This man blasphemeth. And what they were thinking was,
how can a man say your sins are forgiven? As a matter of fact,
in Mark's account, Luke's account, it brings that up. Who can forgive
sins but God only? They were right about that, weren't
they? And Jesus, knowing their thoughts,
said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For what's easier
to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk? Now, it would be easier for me
To say to you, your sins are forgiven, if you're paralytic
and you can't walk, you can't get up, it would be easier for
me to say to you, your sins are forgiven, than it would be, rise
up and walk, wouldn't it? Now, he said, which is easier
to say, your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk? Verse 6,
But that you may know how that the Son of man hath power on
earth to forgive sins. Then saith he to the sick of
palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thine house. And
he arose and departed to his house. You see, when the Lord
says get up and walk, you know what happens? People get up and
walk. There's such power, such authority
in His voice because He's God. But when the multitude saw it,
they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto
men. Verse 9, And as Jesus passed
forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the
receipt of custom. He was doing his job. He was
a publican. And he saith unto him, Follow me. And he rose and followed Him. What power is in His command,
only God has the power that this man has. Matthew the publican,
sitting there doing his job. When he woke up that morning,
he had no idea about what was going to transpire that day. Now, this is the call of irresistible,
invincible grace. Matthew, rise up, follow me. This is a command that is never
disobeyed. You can't do it. You see, if
he commands you to do something, you must do it. You will do it. This is the call of invincible
and irresistible grace. Verse 10, And it came to pass,
As Jesus said it meets in the house, and we know from Mark
and Luke's account of this story that this was Matthew's house.
He had a party for the Lord, and it came to pass as Jesus
said it meet in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came
and sat down with him and his disciples. Now, Matthew, the
one whom the Lord called, throws a party for the Lord Jesus Christ. And all of his buddies come,
many publicans and sinners came down and sat down with him and
his disciples. And I think this is beautiful.
They didn't feel threatened. They didn't feel judged. They
felt comfortable sitting in the presence of divine holiness. admire Christ's willingness to
do this with such people and want to follow His examples.
They want to help such people. And then there are those such
people who need His help. Which one are you? Which one are you? And when the Pharisees saw, they
said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? Now the word Pharisee means separated
one. That's what the word means by
definition. The Pharisee believed that there was something that
they did that separated them from other men. You remember
the Pharisee praying in the temple, Lord, I thank Thee that I'm not
as other men. And he goes on to tell us what
all he did that separated him from other men. Now, the Pharisee,
the separated one, seeing his disciples and the master eating
with publicans and sinners, he says, why are they doing this?
Why? He's condoning their behavior.
He's saying he's OK with their lifestyle. He should hold them
off. This isn't right. This was a
not so subtle criticism of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 12. But when Jesus heard that. He said unto them. They that
behold. Need not a physician. But they that are sick. A physician is okay if you ever need one. But if you are sick, and I mean you think you're going
to die, a physician takes a whole new meaning to you. I've had
three occasions in my 49 years here upon this earth where I
actually thought I was going to die. One time when my kidneys
first went bad, then in 1990 when the doctor told me I had
cancer, and then my most recent episode with my esophagus, I
thought I was going to die. And I can't tell you how carefully
I listened to those doctors to tell me what I needed to do.
in order to live. I paid such careful attention. I hung on every word they said.
You see, there was a time when I didn't need that. Doctors are
good if you ever need them. But oh, when you're sick. When
you're sick. The issue here is an issue of
need. They that behold need not a physician,
but they that are sick. Now, when you're sick, you want
a physician with credentials. And a proper education. You want
a physician with the ability to heal. And you want a physician
who's compassionate, and I think of our Lord calling himself a
physician at this time. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. Now, this physician's credentials
is he was anointed by his father for this very purpose. His ability
is that he has a 100% success rate. And oh, the compassion
of this great physician. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. Now, what about the whole? This
word whole means strong. It has to do with having ability.
That's what the word actually means. Those who have ability
need not a physician. They have no need for this physician.
You see, you don't need a doctor when you're not sick, do you?
I mean, they're fine in their place, but you know, I'm doing
fine. They that are whole, they that have ability, do not need
a physician. Now, as long as you have any
ability, Now, you listen to this real carefully. As long as you
have any ability, if you even have a free will
where you can choose to be saved whenever you decide to be, as
long as you have any ability at all, as long as you have any
ability to be righteous, as long as you have any ability in your
own mind to do the right thing, you know what? You'll never need
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's just the truth. The whole,
those who have ability, need not a physician, but they who
are sick. And the word sick here is literally
evilly sick. Now listen real carefully. This
is very important. Evilly sick. Their sickness is not simply
a misfortune. It's not bad luck. It's not,
I caught this. But their sickness is their own
fault. Sin has brought on their sickness. You see, sin is willful. Sin
is my fault. Sin is a genetic disease, true.
It's an inherited disease, true. It's a filthy, disgusting disease,
true. It's highly contagious, true.
It's humanly incurable, true. It's fatal, true. And it is all
my fault. It's all my fault. Now, as long as it's not my fault, I'm never going to ask for mercy. It's only when it's all my fault. Sin is a disease, yes. It's an
inherited disease, yes. I inherited it from my father
Adam. But my sin is all my fault. And it's only when it's all my
fault that I'm going to be interested in mercy. Not before then. Now who needs a physician? They that are sick, evilly sick. You know, man's religion, human
religion, salvation by works, is like a doctor who treats the
symptoms but never treats the actual disease. Oh, there are
all kinds of symptoms of sin. There's anxiety. There's unhappiness,
there's discontentment. You can just go on and on with
all these symptoms of the disease. And man's religion treats the
symptoms, but it never treats the root problem. The root problem
is sin. Who needs a physician? Those
that are sick. Now, we believe, I believe, I
hope you believe, but I believe what the Bible teaches about
man, that he's dead in sins. Ephesians 2.1 says that you have
be quickened who are dead in sin. Do you know what that means?
Totally depraved. What do you mean by totally depraved?
Have you ever looked at somebody and said, you're sick. You're
sick. You're morally reprehensible.
You are evil. That's sick. You're sick. That's
what this sickness is. You said this about yourself.
I must be sick. To think such thoughts, to be
sick. I'm sick. You don't just mean I've got
a physical illness. You mean I'm sick. I'm morally
reprehensible. I'm evil. That's what is meant
by total depravity. You're sick. That means you can't
save yourself. You can't heal yourself. You
know, we believe the doctrine of grace. Total depravity. Unconditional election, God chose
who would be saved before time began. Limited atonement, that
means Christ died for the elect and accomplished their salvation.
We believe in irresistible grace and God's grace can't be resisted. We believe in the perseverance
of the saints. God's people will be preserved. Now, if you believe
in total depravity, if you believe what the Bible says about your
own state before God, that you are completely sinful and unable
to do anything to save yourself. If you believe in total depravity,
you're going to have a need of unconditional election. You know
if God doesn't choose you, you've had it. There's no hope for you.
And you need for Him to choose you unconditionally. It can't
be because of any goodness in you. It must be an act of His
own free and sovereign will. You understand that? If you're
totally depraved, you need Christ to actually accomplish salvation.
It won't do you any good for Him to make salvation available
if you do your part. You'll end up being damned if
that's the case. You need His successful atonement for His
people. You need His irresistible, invincible
grace. You must have that. You know
you won't be saved without it. You need to be preserved by Him.
It's a thing of need. That's the issue. Those who have some ability,
they don't need a physician. But those who are evilly sick,
salvation can't come to them by way of right. Salvation can't
come to them by way of entitlement. They're totally dependent upon
the mercy of God. That's who needs the physician.
Now, if I ever see that I'm infected with the disease of sin, And
I'm going to die of it, and there's not one thing that I can do to
make myself better. I'm going to see my need of this
great physician. And he does not deal with the
symptoms. He deals with the disease itself. Sin. Is there such a thing as
sin? Sure there is. Sin's against
God. Sin's my problem. Sin's what
I can't deliver myself from. Sin. And he deals with the disease
itself. How? Well, I heard Brother Crabtree
brought a great message on this Wednesday. I haven't heard it,
can't wait to hear it, but I'm going to use the scripture he
preached from. Turn with me to 1 Peter, chapter 2. Verse 24. who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. I was reading a sermon this week,
and the preacher said, here's what you need to do. By faith,
you need to put your sins on Christ. And I thought, I can't do that. I don't have
the authority, the ability, nor do I even know how to do that. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. Who put them there? God placed
my sins upon him. In his own body. He bare my sin. Notice he doesn't simply say
he bore the punishment of my sin, though he did. He bore my
sin. He bore my iniquity. Who his
own self. That's substitution, isn't it? That's the heart of the gospel
right there. He bore my sins. God placed my
sins on him. And thank God he took his perfect
righteousness. I can't take his righteousness
and put it on myself. He doesn't. who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead
to sins, I'm dead to sin, it's all been paid for, doesn't have
anything to say to me, should live under righteousness. This
is the only thing that will motivate anybody to live under righteousness.
Now look what it says next, by whose stripes you were. Past tense. By whose stripes
you were healed. When he died on the cross, you
know who was healed? Everybody he died for. You were
healed. Back to our text in Matthew 9. When Jesus heard that slander,
why eat your master with publicans and sinners? When he heard that,
he said unto them, they that behold need not a position, but
they that are sick. Verse 13, But go ye and learn
what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners. to repentance. Now, he's speaking
to these people who made the objection in verse 11, and he
says, here's what you need to go learn. Learn what this means.
This is what I need to learn. This is what you need to learn.
This is our doctrine. This is our practice. Learn what
this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. Now, all men see the need of
bringing some kind of sacrifice that God will accept. If I give
up this, And if I sacrifice this, and if I start doing that, then
I'll have the forgiveness of sins. God will be pleased with
that, and I'll be rewarded with the forgiveness of sins if I
offer up this kind of sacrifice. You see, false religion, human
religion, man's religion, ends with the forgiveness of sins.
If you do this, if you believe that, if you follow this plan,
you'll have the forgiveness of sins. Gospel doesn't end with
the forgiveness of sins, it begins with the full, frank, free forgiveness
of sins. You go and learn what this means,
I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. Here's the doctrine of the gospel.
Salvation, acceptance with God, comes by the mercy. of God. Now, remember, I've already
made this statement. We're going to go to Romans 9
now to see what the Bible means by mercy. But remember this,
you will only ask for mercy when your sin is all your fault. As long as you can blame it on
somebody else, you can blame it on God's sovereignty, you
can blame it on your circumstances, you can blame it on something
else. You'll never really ask for mercy. It's only when it's
all your fault, when you're evilly set that you'll cry out for mercy. Now what does the Bible mean
by the mercy of God? I love the word mercy. Isn't
it sweet? It even sounds nice to say it. Mercy. Mercy. What a wonderful word. The mercy
of God. But God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ. Mercy.
What a wonderful word. Now turn with me to Romans chapter
9. Let's see what the Bible means by the word mercy. There's a
lot of scriptures I could turn to, but this is the one that
came to my mind. Verse 11, to the children, talking
about Jacob and Esau, being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand. not of works, but of him that
calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated." What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness
with God? Is God unfair in loving Jacob
and hating Esau and choosing Jacob? Not choosing Esau? Is God unfair? God forbid. For he said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, It is not of him that
willeth. God's salvation is not a response
to man's will, nor of him that runneth because of man's works,
but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Have ye mercy? Thank God for
that. On whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will, he hardens. Thou wilt say unto me, why does
he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
How can he hold me responsible if everything's according to
his sovereign will? Nay, but, O man, who are you? to reply against God. Since when are you on the moral
high ground where you can stand in judgment of God and say, I
think you ought to do this and you didn't do it? You ought to
believe yourself to be utterly unfit to make a judgment. Nay,
O man, who are you to reply against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power, authority over the clay of the same lump to
make one vessel unto honor and another? Now, as long as I have
any ability, I don't need mercy. As long as
my sin is not my fault, as long as I have some claim on God,
some personal right, some sense that I'm not being treated fairly,
I'm not asked for mercy. But when I am sick, sick, I'm
sick. totally and completely depraved,
one who has forfeited all rights by my sin, and I have no claims
on God, only then will I ask for mercy. I won't demand it. I'll ask. You know, if I was going to make my living
as a beggar, dependent upon the charity of others. I guarantee
I wouldn't be wearing this suit. I look as bad as I could and
as needy as I could. When I come to the Lord, I don't
come, Lord save me, I'm not all that bad. I mean, I'm true, I'm
sinful, but there are people that are worse. If a doctor is looking at two
patients, Who's going to get his attention first if he's a
good doctor? The one who is the most sick. Now that's how I come to the
Lord. Lord, I'm sick. I've got an evil disease, and
it's all my fault, and I can't change myself. I can't pull myself
up by bootstraps. I'm totally unable to do anything. I'm a sinner, and I can't change
my state. I can't do anything but see,
and that's me. That's my name. That's my nature. Have mercy
on me, because if you don't have mercy to me, I'm going to split
hell wide open. I don't have any hope. in and
of myself. Have mercy on me for Christ's
sake. Now, that's our doctrine. Salvation
by the mercy of God. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us. That is our doctrine. But you know what else? That
is our practice. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. What is the evidence that one
has had mercy shown to him? Here's the one sure evidence.
He will be a merciful person. If I am not merciful, I don't
know a thing about the mercy of God. Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy. Turn with me to James chapter
2. stand for sovereign mercy and
yet are unmerciful in their persons, make a mockery of the mercy of
God and know nothing about it. Now look here in James chapter
2, verse 12. So speak ye, and so
do. Let your practice line up with
your speech. Speak of mercy, and do mercy
as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty, for he
shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy. And
mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Now, who is that merciful person?
He's that person who understands. He understands that he was saved
by the sheer mercy of God. He understands that. He believes
it. And because of that understanding
that he was saved by the sheer, pure, free mercy of God, he cannot
be condescending toward anyone. He can't look down his nose at
anybody. He knows that he's the chief
of sinners, saved by the pure mercy of God. And he can't look
in judgment. Look at James chapter 4, verse
11. James 4. Speak not evil one of
another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges
the law. But if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. You've taken yourself
the position that only belongs to God. There's one lawgiver
who's able to save and to destroy. Who? I hope this comes from power
to my heart. Who are you? It reads literally. You? Who are you to judge anybody? That person who's a merciful
person realizes that he can't be a judge. of anybody. And he's merciful to men's souls
by preaching the gospel of mercy to them. You see, a merciful
man will tell the truth. Somebody who withholds the truth
regarding God's mercy, what it is, that's a cruel, unmerciful,
evil person. He might do it under the guise
of trying to open up, you know, being used to save people and
all that kind of stuff, but in reality, that's a wicked man
that doesn't truly declare what God's Word says regarding the
mercy of God. A merciful man is going to stand
for the mercy of God, and a merciful man is going to be merciful to
men. He's going to be merciful to their bodies, to their souls.
Look in James 2. There's a lot in this about this.
James 2, verse 14. We've been talking about being
merciful in verse 13. Verse 14. What does the prophet,
my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and hath not works,
can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked
and destitute of daily food, and one of you saying to them,
depart in peace, be ye filled, warmed and filled, notwithstanding,
you give them not those things which are needful to the body,
what do the prophet? Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Now, how is this merciful attitude
seen? Where you're merciful in souls and preaching the gospel,
you'd be merciful to the bodies. How's this attitude of mercy
seen? Well, I've seen in the attitude of our Lord that sinful
men and women could be in his presence and not feel threatened
and not feel judged. That's such a wonderful attitude.
It's not that he was condoning their lifestyle, you know that,
but they could actually be in his presence and not feel threatened
and not feel judged. Oh, I want to emulate my Lord
in that. I want to imitate my Lord in that. Now, our doctrine is mercy. Our practice is mercy. Now look at this last statement
in our text, back to Matthew chapter 9. For I came, for I am not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I've not come
to call the righteous Now, if you have any personal righteousness
before God, I mean, if you have a shred, if you have any, you
know what you've done? You've excluded yourself from
the kingdom of heaven. He didn't come for any righteous
people. If you have any righteousness,
you can forget Christ. He won't have anything to do
with you. What is the one requirement for His salvation? Being a sinner. He said, I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. What's
a sinner according to the Bible? A sinner. I've said this several
times in the last couple of months. A sinner is somebody who all
they do is sin. They cannot not sin. That's a
sinner. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. A change of mind. You know, I
used to believe that I could do something about my state.
I hadn't done it yet, but I intend to do one of these days. I'm
going to get things straightened out. I used to think that one day
down the road, I'm going to turn things around, with God's help,
that I'm going to turn things around. I used to really believe
that. I repent of that. I say it's ridiculous. I used to believe God's sovereignty
was unfair. It bothered me. How he could
save one and pass by another. I repent of that. I used to think that God was
too holy and too strict and reluctant to save sinners. I repent of that. I was wrong. I used to believe forgiveness
was given only if I did this or that. I've changed my mind. Forgiveness is not something
you earn. It's something freely given for Christ's sake. Now, hear what Christ says. Repent
and believe the gospel. Repent. Change your mind. Your mind needs to be changed,
doesn't it? My goodness, I repent every day. I'm in a continual
state of repentance. Repent and believe the gospel. Our doctrine is mercy. Our practice
is mercy. And if our doctrine and practice
do not line up, we know nothing about either of them, do we? Saved by the mercy of God to
be. a merciful man and woman. Let's pray.